Palmach Museum

Palmach Museum

A short account of the Palmach Museum, given by your Israel & Jerusalem private tour guide

What is the Palmach?

In 1941, while the German army was getting close to Palestine, the British agreed to let the Jewish community in the country participate in the war efforts. They opened a training base and hundreds of boys were trained as field fighters.

When the danger was over, the Palmach had to go underground and train secretly. After the war, the Palmach was engaged in operations against British targets, with the goal of moving them out of the country. Palmach persons also occupied clandestine plants for producing arms such as the Ayalon Institute.

At the beginning of the War of Independence in 1947, the Palmach had close to 5,000 fighters. First, they defended convoys of supplies moving on the roads around the country. Later they fought in all of the mixed Jewish-Arab cities and saved the Jewish communities. In May of 1948, with the invasion of the Arab states, the Palmach 3 brigades led the major operations in the northern, central and southern parts of the country in order to drive the Arab armies out of the country. In all of these battles, the Palmach lost close to 1,200 fighters. At the end of the war the Palmach merged with the rest of the IDF.

click on all the photos to open them up

Is it really a museum?

It is certainly not an ordinary museum. It is a multimedia experience that takes you through the feelings and emotions of the Jewish community here, being under the threat of German occupation and the Arab attacks. You follow a small group of new Palmach recruits, watching them going through the joys of training and social life, and through the hardships of fighting in the war and losing so many friends. It is certainly a very emotional experience.